Improving Your Relationship For Dummies Book Summary - Improving Your Relationship For Dummies Book explained in key points
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Improving Your Relationship For Dummies summary

Paula Hall

The hands-on, practical guide for couples

4.3 (88 ratings)
21 mins

Brief summary

Improving Your Relationship For Dummies by Paula Hall is a practical guide that helps one identify and resolve relationship problems. It provides insights on communication, handling conflicts and sustaining intimacy.

Table of Contents

    Improving Your Relationship For Dummies
    Summary of 9 key ideas

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    A strong relationship rests on compatibility, intimacy and day-to-day stability.

    Every relationship has its ups and downs. When you hit a rough patch, it’s easy to forget about the positive things and dwell on the negative. If you want to improve your relationship, however, you have to build on its strengths.

    All solid romantic relationships have three core strengths: compatibility, intimacy and day-to-day stability.

    The first core strength, compatibility, is the foundation of your relationship. It’s the degree to which you and your partner actually suit each other. Do you have the same outlook on life? Do you share the same passions or interests?

    People change as they get older, and compatibility changes accordingly. However, your core principles and life goals – a desire to have children, for instance, or a belief in monogamy – generally don’t change much over time, and it’s these goals and principles that truly form the foundation of compatibility.

    The second core strength is intimacy: how close you and your partner really are. Intimacy doesn’t just appear out of nowhere; it’s a product of time and deep mutual understanding.

    There are three different kinds of intimacy. Emotional intimacy is about how openly you share your emotions. Intellectual intimacy is about how well you understand each other's thought processes. And physical intimacy is about how well you connect physically, through touch or sex.

    Each kind of intimacy is important, but it’s unlikely that a couple will feel perfectly intimate in each arena. Identifying which area of intimacy needs work is the first step toward improving it.

    The last core strength, day-to-day stability, concerns how your relationship plays out on a daily level. Stability is extremely valuable; indeed, a relationship isn’t sustainable without it.

    Your relationship simply can’t survive if it suffers from daily tension, no matter how compatible or intimate you are. When it comes to romance, harmony in your daily life is absolutely crucial to long-term success.

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    What is Improving Your Relationship For Dummies about?

    Improving Your Relationship For Dummies (2010) provides simple techniques for couples hoping to boost their intimacy, sharpen their communication and overcome challenges in a productive, healthy way. It offers advice for both new couples that want to start off on the right foot and long-term couples that hope to get things back on track.

    Improving Your Relationship For Dummies Review

    Improving Your Relationship For Dummies (2020) is a helpful guide on nurturing and strengthening relationships. Here are three reasons why this book is worth reading:

    • Full of practical strategies and expert advice, it equips readers with the tools to solve common relationship issues and stay connected.
    • Combining psychological research and real-life examples, it offers insights into the dynamics of healthy relationships, making it valuable for couples at any stage.
    • With its user-friendly format and engaging tone, the book presents complex concepts in a relatable way, ensuring that readers won't find it boring.

    Who should read Improving Your Relationship For Dummies?

    • Couples going through a rough patch
    • Partners hoping to improve communication
    • Anyone thinking about entering a relationship

    About the Author

    Paula Hall is a writer and psychotherapist who specializes in helping couples overcome sexual and romantic problems. She is also the founder of The Institute for Sex Addiction Training and Head of Recovery for The Naked Truth Project.

     

    © Paula Hall: Improving Your Relationship For Dummies copyright 2010, John Wiley & Sons Inc. Used by permission of John Wiley & Sons Inc. and shall not be made available to any unauthorized third parties.

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    Improving Your Relationship For Dummies FAQs 

    What is the main message of Improving Your Relationship For Dummies?

    Improving Your Relationship For Dummies guides readers on building better relationships with practical tips and advice.

    How long does it take to read Improving Your Relationship For Dummies?

    The reading time for Improving Your Relationship For Dummies varies, but the Blinkist summary can be read in a matter of minutes.

    Is Improving Your Relationship For Dummies a good book? Is it worth reading?

    Improving Your Relationship For Dummies is worth reading as it provides valuable insights and strategies for enhancing relationships.

    Who is the author of Improving Your Relationship For Dummies?

    The author of Improving Your Relationship For Dummies is Paula Hall.

    What to read after Improving Your Relationship For Dummies?

    If you're wondering what to read next after Improving Your Relationship For Dummies, here are some recommendations we suggest:
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